Highlanders - 28 Chiefs - 52
FULLTIME - Check out highlights and a full wrap here.
76th min - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Breakdown in communication in the Chiefs' defensive line and Shannon Frizell strolls over for an easy try.
67th min - TRY CHIEFS - Kaylum Boshier bursts through a big gap, finds Weber who puts on a huge fend and sprints clear to cross out wide. McKenzie converts.
60th min - TRY CHIEFS - Rona pounces on a fumble and sprints clear 90m to score his second try. Ouch. McKenzie converts to surpass 1,000 Super Rugby points.
58th min - Highlanders press for metres near hlafway but the Chiefs' defence is staunch.
Burns puts Renton into a gap, they move to the 22m.
53rd min - Chiefs deceide to take a shot at goal rather than pressing for another try. McKenzie bangs it over from 30m on the angle. (Chiefs 38-21)
49th min - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Sam Gilbert runs off Thomas Umaga-Jensen's shoulder and latches on to a superb offload to crash over and give his team some hope.
42nd min - TRY CHIEFS - Mistake Highlanders and the Chiefs capitalise. Lovely work Gatland to open up the defence with a chip kick that falls directly to Stevenson. McKenzie draws some defenders and pops a pass over defenders' heads to Daniel Rona for the ideal start to the second stanza. McKenzie slots the sideline conversion.
41st min - Chiefs get us restarted.
Second half underway...
HALFTIME
39th min - TRY CHIEFS - Incredible counterattack from the Chiefs sparked by Damian McKenzie, who cuts through three tacklers to send Brad Weber clear. Smart and quick passing finds George Dyer, who runs back on the angle to reach out and score in the tackle. One of the tries of the season there, an 80m effort.
35th min - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Aaron Smith darts over from short range to narrow the deficit to seven points.
33rd min - The Landers finally back on attack off the back of a 5m lineout. They cross the chalk but are held up, 5m scrum.
28th min - TRY CHIEFS - Stevenson pounces on a poor pass from the Landers at halfway and fires a slick back-hand pass to Anton Lienert-Brown, who fends off the final defender to cross in his 100th game. McKenzie converts.
24th min - TRY CHIEFS - Quick double strike for the visitors, with Daniel Rona dropping a deft chip kick over the defensive line for Shaun Stevenson to streak through and collect on the full for the Chiefs' second try.
20th min - TRY CHIEFS - Emoni Narawa continues his red-hot form with a brilliant individual effort, taking the ball at his own 10m and carving the scrambling Highlanders' defence to pieces to dive in under the black dot.
17th min - Stevenson sparks a break, Jacobson in support and powers to the 22m. Mistake kills the Chiefs' momentum again, scrum Landers at their 22m.
13th min - Classy touch from Freddie Burns, who finds the line at the Chiefs' 10m.
Penalty Highlanders. Another attacking lineout inside the Chiefs' 22m.
Tupou Vaa'i lightning quick over the ball on the second phase to win the defensive penalty for the Chiefs.
10th min - Chiefs finally have some ball in Landers' territory, lineout just over halfway.
Sowakula loses the ball just a couple of phases in, Landers look to attack on the counter but spill the ball themselves. Scrum Chiefs at their own 10m line.
7th min - TRY HIGHLANDERS - Ethan de Groot burrows over from close range and the hosts get a deserved opening try.
6th min - Penalty advantage cashed in. They'll move to a 5m lineout. Encouraging start for the southerners.
4th min - Penalty Highlanders. They'll make another raid from a lineout 10m shy of the line.
1st min - Mistake early, Highlanders with a great early chance with a scrum in front of the posts.
Aaron Smith loses the ball in the tackle and Weber clears for the Chiefs.
7pm - The players have made their eay out of the tunnel, we'll back into the action very shortly.
Anton Lienert-Brown leads the way for the Chiefs, back from injury to celebrate his 100th game for the franchise.
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Kia ora and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the Super Rugby Pacific showdown between the Chiefs and the Highlanders.
These are two teams at opposite ends of the spectrum, with the table-topping Chiefs looking to extend their undefeated streak to 10 games against the Highlanders, who are trying to get back on track after three consecutive defeats.
We'll have all of the action from 7pm.
TAB betting odds:
Highlanders - $4.40 Chiefs - $1.20
Team line-ups:
Highlanders: 1-Ethan de Groot, 2-Andrew Makalio, 3-Jermaine Ainsley, 4-Fabian Holland, 5-Will Tucker, 6-Shannon Frizell, 7-Billy Harmon (c), 8-Hugh Renton, 9-Aaron Smith, 10-Freddie Burns, 11-Scott Gregory, 12-Thomas Umaga-Jensen, 13-Fetuli Paea, 14-Connor Garden-Bachop, 15-Sam Gilbert
Reserves: 16-Rhys Marshall, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Saula Ma'u, 19-Josh Dickson, 20-Sean Withy, 21-Folau Fakatava, 22-Mitch Hunt, 23-Jona Nareki
Chiefs: 1-Aidan Ross, 2-Samisoni Taukei'aho, 3-George Dyer, 4-Tupou Vaa'i, 5-Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 6-Pita Gus Sowakula, 7-Sam Cane, 8-Luke Jacobson, 9-Brad Weber, 10-Damian McKenzie, 11-Peniasi Malimali, 12-Anton Lienert-Brown, 13-Daniel Rona, 14-Emoni Narawa, 15-Shaun Stevenson
Reserves: 16-Bradley Slater, 17-Ollie Norris, 18-John Ryan, 19-Josh Lord, 20-Kaylum Boshier, 21-Cortez Ratima, 22-Bryn Gatland, 23-Alex Nankivell
Weber hopes career-best form leads to All Blacks spot as halfback logjam looms
The Chiefs' bulldozing undefeated run through Super Rugby Pacific this season has had its fair share of heroes, not least of whom has been halfback and co-captain Brad Weber.
The pocket rocket's play has been a highlight of the team's streak to the top of the table, which extended to nine games with their gritty win over the defending champion Crusaders on Saturday.
His consistently high-quality performances have undoubtedly made an impact with All Blacks coach Ian Foster and his selectors in what's shaping as a competitive battle for one of the three halfback spots to board the plane to the World Cup in France later this year.
Weber has spent the past couple of seasons on the fringe of test selection. After being overlooked for the July series against Irland and the Rugby Championship, Weber joined the All Blacks XV on their whistlestop tour to England and Ireland, before linking up with the All Blacks for their annual European tour.
Aaron Smith remains the incumbent in the black No. 9 jersey, but there's been increasing pressure from the likes of the Blues' Finlay Christie, his Highlanders back-up Folau Fakatava, and potential bolters such as Cam Roigard of the Hurricanes, while veteran TJ Perenara lurks on the sidelines recovering from his long-term achilles injury.
But if Weber's refreshingly honest self-assessment of his form is anything to go by, it's likely we'll see the Napier product add to his 18 test caps this year.
"There are so many good nines around the country which is great," Weber told Newshub. "It keeps everyone on their toes.
"But I can't control anything that anyone else does. I'm focussing on my own performance and, to be honest - I've been really happy with my form this year
"I think it's some of the best rugby I've played in my career."
The 32-year-old seems destined to join the post World Cup player exodus, with widespread speculation he's signed a multi-year deal with French Top 14 side Stade Francais.
"I just want to keep that [form] on, enjoy my time here at the Chiefs, try to win my first Super title, and that sort of stuff will take of itself."
"But certainly - personally - I'm really happy with how I'm going."
Saturday's dogged win over the Crusaders was further proof of how far the Chiefs have come in recent years, showcasing their ability to grind out victory against a formidable opponent, despite not being at their best.
Weber admits his team is still some way short of their ceiling and will need to improve considerably if they're to contend come playoffs time.
"We're certainly not the finished product yet, which means it's exciting to see where this team can get to by the end of the season," he noted.
"We know that the stuff we're producing now - by the time we get to the back end of the season - is not going to be good enough, so we're going to have to keep going."
Their bid to become the first undefeated team since the Crusaders of 2002 continues this weekend against the struggling Highlanders - part of a final stretch that includes mouthwatering matchups against the Hurricanes and the Brumbies in consecutive weeks later this month.
A member of the Chiefs team that endured the ignominy of their record 11-game losing streak that stretched from 2020 to 2021, Weber knows all too well the sense of desperation the Highlanders - who have lost three straight games - simmering in Dunedin this week.
"We've been in their shoes before when we've lost a few games and we understand the fight and the desperation that's there," he said.
"If they beats us, that catapults their season all of a sudden and they're back on track.
"We're very aware there's a bit of a beast coming out this weekend and hopefully we put another good performance out there… the Landers can shock anyone on their day."